This invention relates to golf clubs and more particularly golf club heads. Interest among golfers in custom-tailoring their golf equipment has increased over the years. Also, golfers have increasingly demanded golf club head s that include advanced materials, high forgiveness, and generally bet ter performance. However, these desires, i.e. providing easily customizable club head s and high performing club heads, are often incompatible from a design standpoint.
As an example, hollow-type iron club heads have recently become popular for golfers interested in game improvement. Because of their large volume, a significant proportion of the mass of such club heads is located outward from their respective centers of gravity. This increases movement of inertia and, thus, provides for a more forgiving club head on off-centered golf shots. To achieve these characteristics, given a predetermined mass budget, hollow-type iron golf club heads generally include thin-walled construction and comprise different materials throughout the club head body to selectively optimize material properties at various locations. However, as a result of their enlarged shape and thin-walled construction, such golf club heads are ill-suited for use with conventional golf club head customization devices (e.g. the STEELC LUB® Signature Angle Machine by the Mitchell Golf Equipment Company of Dayton, Ohio). As a result, attempts at modifying properties of hollow-type iron golf club heads (e.g. loft angle and lie angle) tend to result in damage to the club head that impairs structural integrity and performance.